GRAB Philippines (MyTaxi.PH, Inc.) said it will start imposing penalties on passengers and drivers for excessive cancellations of booked rides.
In a statement Monday, the technology firm said it has started implementing the new policies such as user lockout and penalty fees on its mobile application, in order to reduce the number of ride cancellations.
Grab said users will be informed of the new rules starting Monday and will be on a “staggered rollout” until end of May.
“Our intention in implementing this new policy is to create a better ride-hailing ecosystem, where both passengers and drivers practice the responsible use of the Grab platform,” Grab Philippines President Brian P. Cu said in the statement.
For drivers, Grab will penalize those that wouldn’t be able to reach a “completion rate,” or the number of completed bookings vis-a-vis canceled rides and ignored jobs. They will also be temporarily locked out of the Grab app if they “excessively ignore or cancel booking requests.”
The same timeout feature will be rolled out for passengers, such that an account would be suspended for 24 hours if it is found to have canceled too many rides.
But if a driver is the one to cancel a ride, the passenger will be given 30 points in GrabRewards.
Grab will also implement a P50 fee for passengers that would cancel a ride five minutes after getting assigned a driver, and the same fee for not showing up at a pickup point. A GrabCar driver will wait five minutes before the fee will be applied, and three minutes for GrabShare. This cancellation fee, Grab said, will go directly to the driver. — Denise A. Valdez
